attention economy

A buzzword created in Silicon Valley, referring to the management of information that treats human attention as a scarce commodity, and applies economic theory to solve various information management problems. In other words, "attention economy" is a marketplace where consumers agree to receive services in exchange for their attention. Examples include personalized news, personalized search, alerts, and recommendations to buy. Economists agree that a key point is about the consumer having a choice - they get to choose where their attention is 'spent'. Another key ingredient is relevancy - as long as the consumer sees relevant content, he or she is more likely to stick around (which creates more opportunities to sell).